Title: Provider API – Wikimedia Commons
Author: Krystle Salazar
Published: August 9, 2021
Last modified: August 10, 2021
---
# Provider API – Wikimedia Commons
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We call the following endpoints from [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/):
1. `https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&generator=allimages&prop=
imageinfo&gailimit=40&gaisort=timestamp&gaistart=YYYY-MM-DDT00:00:00Z&gaiend=YYYY-
MM-DDT00:00:00Z&iiprop=url|user|dimensions|extmetadata&iiurlwidth=300&format=json`
2. `https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&generator=allimages&prop=
imageinfo&gailimit=40&gaisort=timestamp&gaistart=YYYY-MM-DDT00:00:00Z&gaiend=YYYY-
MM-DDT00:00:00Z&iiprop=url|user|dimensions|extmetadata&iiurlwidth=300&format=json&
gaicontinue=SOME_PICTURE.jpg`
For both of these, we replace `YYYY-MM-DD` with dates (we only pull data for images
uploaded/updated between these dates). We use the second query if there are more
than 40 images between the specified dates, giving a continue location as the next
picture (represented by `SOME_PICTURE.jpg`). These requests each return a JSONJSON
JSON, or JavaScript Object Notation, is a minimal, readable format for structuring
data. It is used primarily to transmit data between a server and web application,
as an alternative to XML. of the following form:
```wp-block-preformatted
{
"batchcomplete": "",
"continue": {
"gaicontinue": "20191101000510|James_Allen_da_Luz.png",
"continue": "gaicontinue||"
},
"query": {
"pages": {
"83547663": {
"pageid": 83547663,
"ns": 6,
"title": "File:'Buurpraatje', SK-A-2607.jpg",
"imagerepository": "local",
"imageinfo": [
{
"user": "Mr.Nostalgic",
"size": 1353326,
"width": 3746,
"height": 2400,
"thumburl": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/%27Buurpraatje%27%2C_SK-A-2607.jpg/300px-%27Buurpraatje%27%2C_SK-A-2607.jpg",
"thumbwidth": 300,
"thumbheight": 192,
"url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/%27Buurpraatje%27%2C_SK-A-2607.jpg",
"descriptionurl": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%27Buurpraatje%27,_SK-A-2607.jpg",
"descriptionshorturl": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83547663",
"extmetadata": {
"DateTime": {
"value": "2019-11-01 00:04:22",
"source": "mediawiki-metadata",
"hidden": ""
},
"ObjectName": {
"value": "'Buurpraatje', SK-A-2607",
"source": "mediawiki-metadata",
"hidden": ""
},
"CommonsMetadataExtension": {
"value": 1.2,
"source": "extension",
"hidden": ""
},
"Categories": {
"value": "1897 paintings|19th-century paintings in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam|CC-Zero|Paintings by Jozef Israëls in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam",
"source": "commons-categories",
"hidden": ""
},
"Assessments": {
"value": "",
"source": "commons-categories",
"hidden": ""
},
"ImageDescription": {
"value": "
Identificatie
Titel(s): 'Buurpraatje'
Objecttype: schilderij
Objectnummer: SK-A-2607
Opschriften / Merken: signatuur, linksonder: ‘Jozef Israels’
Omschrijving: 'Buurpraatje'. Twee vrouwen maken een praatje voor een boerenwoning. De linker vrouw is geleund op het houten hek om het erf van de woning. Bij het hek staan enkele dunne bomen.
Vervaardiging
Vervaardiger: schilder: Jozef Israëls
Datering: 1897
Fysieke kenmerken: olieverf op doek
Materiaal: doek olieverf
Afmetingen: drager: h 40,5 cm. × b 62,8 cm. × d 3,4 cm. (incl. achterkantbescherming)buitenmaat: d 12,5 cm. (drager incl. SK-L-3257)
Verwerving en rechten
Credit line: Schenking van de heer en mevrouw Drucker-Fraser, Montreux
Verwerving: schenking 4-mei-1912
Copyright: Publiek domein",
"source": "commons-desc-page"
},
"DateTimeOriginal": {
"value": "1897",
"source": "commons-desc-page"
},
"Credit": {
"value": "http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.7868",
"source": "commons-desc-page",
"hidden": ""
},
"Artist": {
"value": "Rijksmuseum",
"source": "commons-desc-page"
},
"LicenseShortName": {
"value": "CC0",
"source": "commons-desc-page",
"hidden": ""
},
"UsageTerms": {
"value": "Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedication",
"source": "commons-desc-page",
"hidden": ""
},
"AttributionRequired": {
"value": "false",
"source": "commons-desc-page",
"hidden": ""
},
"LicenseUrl": {
"value": "http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en",
"source": "commons-desc-page",
"hidden": ""
},
"Copyrighted": {
"value": "True",
"source": "commons-desc-page",
"hidden": ""
},
"Restrictions": {
"value": "",
"source": "commons-desc-page",
"hidden": ""
},
"License": {
"value": "cc0",
"source": "commons-templates",
"hidden": ""
}
}
}
]
},
...
"83547651": {
"pageid": 83547651,
"ns": 6,
"title": "File:Wuppertal, Marienstr. 99.jpg",
"imagerepository": "local",
"imageinfo": [
{
"user": "Im Fokus",
"size": 4395166,
"width": 2736,
"height": 3648,
"thumburl": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8d/Wuppertal%2C_Marienstr._99.jpg/300px-Wuppertal%2C_Marienstr._99.jpg",
"thumbwidth": 300,
"thumbheight": 400,
"url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Wuppertal%2C_Marienstr._99.jpg",
"descriptionurl": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wuppertal,_Marienstr._99.jpg",
"descriptionshorturl": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83547651",
"extmetadata": {
"DateTime": {
"value": "2019-11-01 00:02:50",
"source": "mediawiki-metadata",
"hidden": ""
},
"ObjectName": {
"value": "Wuppertal, Marienstr. 99",
"source": "mediawiki-metadata",
"hidden": ""
},
"CommonsMetadataExtension": {
"value": 1.2,
"source": "extension",
"hidden": ""
},
"Categories": {
"value": "2019 photographs of Wuppertal|Marienstraße 99 (Wuppertal)|Self-published work",
"source": "commons-categories",
"hidden": ""
},
"Assessments": {
"value": "",
"source": "commons-categories",
"hidden": ""
},
"ImageDescription": {
"value": "Wuppertal, Wohnquartier Nordstadt, Marienstr. 99",
"source": "commons-desc-page"
},
"DateTimeOriginal": {
"value": "2019-10-24 14:03:52",
"source": "commons-desc-page"
},
"Credit": {
"value": "Own work",
"source": "commons-desc-page",
"hidden": ""
},
"Artist": {
"value": "Im Fokus",
"source": "commons-desc-page"
},
"LicenseShortName": {
"value": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
"source": "commons-desc-page",
"hidden": ""
},
"UsageTerms": {
"value": "Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0",
"source": "commons-desc-page",
"hidden": ""
},
"AttributionRequired": {
"value": "true",
"source": "commons-desc-page",
"hidden": ""
},
"LicenseUrl": {
"value": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0",
"source": "commons-desc-page",
"hidden": ""
},
"Copyrighted": {
"value": "True",
"source": "commons-desc-page",
"hidden": ""
},
"Restrictions": {
"value": "",
"source": "commons-desc-page",
"hidden": ""
},
"License": {
"value": "cc-by-sa-4.0",
"source": "commons-templates",
"hidden": ""
}
}
}
]
}
}
}
}
```
We have elided a number of entries for brevity. Note the `continue.gaicontinue`
field in the json. This will be used in the second request listed above. Below is
a table showing the mapping from the data contained in such a json to columns in
the `image` table in PostgreSQL. Fields from the json are preceded by `$` to mark
them. We have omitted the prefix `query.pages.XXXXXX` (where `XXXXXX` is the key
for a given page) since it is identical for each field.
```wp-block-code
Column | Comes From
-------------------------|-------------------------------
foreign_identifier | $pageid
foreign_landing_url | $imageinfo[0].descriptionshorturl
url | $imageinfo[0].url
thumbnail | $imageinfo[0].thumburl
width | $imageinfo[0].width
height | $imageinfo[0].height
license | derived from $imageinfo[0].extmetadata.LicenseUrl.value
license_version | derived from $imageinfo[0].extmetadata.LicenseUrl.value
creator | derived from $imageinfo[0].extmetadata.Artist.value
creator_url | derived from $imageinfo[0].extmetadata.Artist.value
title | $title
meta_data | See below
```
## [[`meta_data` field
The `meta_data` field is a JSON of the following form:
```wp-block-code
{
"description": $imageinfo[0].extmetadata.ImageDescription.value (stripped of html tags)
}
```
First published
August 9, 2021
Last updated
August 10, 2021
[ Previous: Provider API – Thingiverse](https://make.wordpress.org/openverse/handbook/openverse-catalog/provider-api-thingiverse/)